Quinn Ewers brings the juice to a Texas win over Michigan

Ann Arbor — The moment was big, but not entirely unfamiliar for Quinn Ewers from Texas.

Ewers had already been to the Big House in 2021 as a freshman backup quarterback for Ohio State, when he sat on the sidelines and watched his team get beaten 42-27 by Michigan.

On Saturday, it was Ewers who throttled the team – and silenced more than 111,000 fans – to lead No. 3 Texas to a dominant 31-12 victory over No. 10 Michigan.

“It’s definitely cool to come back here because the last time I was here, it wasn’t like I was on my team,” Ewers said with a sheepish smile during the postgame press conference inside Michigan Stadium. “I understand what a big moment this was because I’ve been here before and I know what the atmosphere is like. It was pretty loud in the first quarter, that’s for sure.”

And then it became quite quiet for most of the rest of the afternoon, and Ewers, who had been running a pretty tough ship one day, The Captain (Derek Jeter) was Michigan’s honorary captain and had a hell of a lot to do with Texas’ offense overwhelming a Michigan team known for its defense – and that is expected to be their saving grace this year.

Ewers completed 24 of 36 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns, and Texas also ran for 143 yards.

Texas beat Michigan 389-284 and didn’t have to punt until the third quarter. Ewers was successful down low, in open space and on checkdowns, and in the rare moments he had to, Ewers just threw the ball away. Texas didn’t lose the ball; Michigan did so three times. Ewers wasn’t sacked on Saturday.

“I think there’s something special about Quinn and his demeanor. He’s a very calm guy. He’s really composed,” said Steve Sarkisian, who is in his fourth year as Texas’ head coach. “He never goes on an emotional rollercoaster. You’ll see him celebrate a touchdown sometimes, but he’s never overly exuberant. And when things aren’t going so well, you never see his dauber go down. He stays pretty even-keeled and I think that demeanor helps in those environments.”

And, says Sarkisian, this calmness rubs off on his teammates.

“A lot of people in the organization,” Sarkisian said, “say, ‘We have a chance today because No. 3 is playing.'”

Ewers, 21, did not play for Ohio State as a freshman before transferring to Texas ahead of the 2022 season. He was named a starter and went 6-4 in his starts in 2022.

Last season, Ewers led Texas to a stunning win at then-No. 3 Alabama in the second week of the season, then to a victory over No. 19 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship game and a berth in the College Football Playoff, where they lost to No. 2 Washington in a thrilling 37-31 game.

After Saturday’s win, Sarkisian had a request for reporters: Find another quarterback who has won in consecutive seasons in Tuscaloosa and Ann Arbor.

“Google,” Sarkisian said.

It was Ewers who made the difference in the two monumental away wins.

“At Alabama, we wanted to prove not only to ourselves but to everyone what kind of team we are,” Ewers said, adding that he used his past in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry to bring a little more intensity to practices during the week.

“Coming here and doing the work is definitely different.”

In other words, last year Texas was a surprise contender for the national championship. This year there are no surprises. Expanded playoffs or not, the Longhorns simply gave the rest of the country a warning.

Ewers led Texas to points on four of its first drives on Saturday, and it would have been 5-5 had a touchdown pass on the first drive not been called back for holding. There were also a couple of false starts on the drive that ended with a missed field goal. Ewers used his time on the sidelines to rally the troops in his own quiet way.

“He’s our leader,” running back Jaydon Blue said. “We look to him when something goes wrong. … Eventually, adversity will strike. We’re doing a good job of getting back on our feet.”

The Longhorns responded with a touchdown on their second (21-yard pass from Gunnar Helm), third (7-yard run from Jerrick Gibson) and fifth (5-yard pass from Matthew Golden) drives of the first half, taking a 24-3 lead to the disbelief of Michigan fans.

“That’s what we do,” said offensive lineman Jake Majors. “We score touchdowns.”

Of Ewers, Majors said: “He does a good job of bringing momentum.”

Majors and Co. brought a lot of initiative into the game, including in the third quarter when Ewers was pushed by a Michigan player and the Texas offensive linemen ran right into the Wolverines’ faces for a small (and ultimately harmless) scuffle.

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Majors said. “That’s our quarterback.”

And that quarterback, the current favorite for the Heisman title, helped hand Michigan its first loss in 616 days (TCU on December 31, 2022), its first home loss in 1,379 days (Penn State on November 28, 2020), its first home loss in front of fans in 1,743 days (Ohio State on November 30, 2019) and its first home loss in September in 3,633 days (Minnesota on September 27, 2014).

Texas, the third favorite to win the national title (behind Georgia and Ohio State), snapped Michigan’s 23-game home winning streak in the first game of a home-and-away contract that will see Michigan travel to Texas in 2027.

By then, most of the faces will have changed—the team from the Lone Star State, by the way, has plenty of stars on offense, defense (Michigan didn’t score a touchdown until less than two minutes before the game ended) and even from Hollywood (Matthew McConaughey was among the 15,000-plus fans wearing their bright orange at the Big House)—but the memories of this game will stay with Texas, especially if the Longhorns finish this season where the Wolverines finished last season, atop college football.

“We can compete, we can compete with them,” said Sarkisian, whose school seems to have chosen the ideal time to join the rough SEC. “I reminded the guys that we were in Tuscaloosa and we played there and we won, we played in a Big 12 championship game, we played in the College Football Playoff. And so none of those moments should feel too big for us anymore.

“This one game won’t define our season, but I think it’s a pretty good gauge of what kind of team we could have.”

Especially because of the type of quarterback, does have.

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